Good evening. Following Richard Brittain's attempt at a Co-lympics, it seemed that there was an appetite for an athletics-based event, even if it didn't quite happen on that occasion. So here's another attempt, which takes no real organising, so it should be much easier to make it happen. It takes no organising because I'm going to use an already-existing event. Parkruns are 5km running events that take place at 9:00am every Saturday at various locations across the UK. They are really easy to register for - you register just once ever and print off a bar code, which you can then take to any Parkrun event across the UK. You use the same bar code on all dates and at all locations. All the positions and times are recorded on the website.

So as I'm organising it (loosely speaking - see above), I'm picking the Great Notley Parkrun, which is near Braintree in Essex. It's quite a nice run in a country park, and it even has a hill you have to run up! (It's not that high, honest.)

I imagine that if people are coming, they might want to come up on the Friday. Braintree rail station is about 2.5 miles away, and the nearest hotel appears to be the Holiday In Express, which is on the way from the station to the country park (about a mile from the country park). There is also a pub near the country park that does food, called Branocs Tree, and there is a café at the country park that people often eat at after the run.

I haven't got an exact date in mind yet, but I was thinking maybe August or September to give people time to get ready and also while the weather is likely to be reasonable. You don't have to be good at running to take part in these. People of all standards run - or indeed walk.

So if you are interested, say so in this thread, and we'll see how much interest there is. I know that some people within the online Countdown community take part in Parkruns already. So yes - express your interest below!

Ian Volante wrote:Feature request: arbirtrary groupings via the Parkrun website - would be fun to be able compare my times to those of fellow apterites/korfballers/whatever.

I've run 13 of the buggers since 2010, so I'm hardly a prolific parkrunner, but I do use them as time trials every now and again. I'm parkrun athlete number 80891 if you particularly want to look up when/where I've run.

And in response to the original post, I'd suggest it's unlikely I could be tempted to Braintree just for a "CO-parkrun", especially as the opportunity already exists to do local parkruns with Co-eventers before Co-events (e.g. I visited Lincoln parkrun on the morning of COLIN XI). Having said that, I do like a bit of parkrun tourism, so I wouldn't 100% rule out attending a separate CO-parkrun.

(Typographical trainspot: my spelling defers to the parkrun branding which insists on the name of the event being spelled entirely in lower case.)

Gavin Chipper wrote:...I'm picking the Great Notley Parkrun, which is near Braintree in Essex...I haven't got an exact date in mind yet, but I was thinking maybe August or September...

Disingenuousness is often unavoidable when you're in politics but I think this takes things a mite too far.

It's quite clear that you'll be unable to commit on this policy promise. By August or September you know full well that you will have been elected to Parliament as the MP for Braintree. So, you'll be so busy revitalising politics - single-handedly re-shaping Parliament, ensuring fairness for all, that sort of thing - that you'll have to withdraw from the Parkrun. People will be devastated. They'll all be saying "that Toby, he's just like all the rest, promises you anything he will" and "you can't trust them, you know, those politician people" and "I only voted for Toby so that I could race him in the Parkrun, now that he isn't, I'm going to have to kill myself", stuff like that. Braintree will lose all faith in politics and Brooks Newmark will probably send you an especially explicit sext to mark the occasion.

Gavin Chipper wrote:...I'm picking the Great Notley Parkrun, which is near Braintree in Essex...I haven't got an exact date in mind yet, but I was thinking maybe August or September...

Disingenuousness is often unavoidable when you're in politics but I think this takes things a mite too far.

It's quite clear that you'll be unable to commit on this policy promise. By August or September you know full well that you will have been elected to Parliament as the MP for Braintree. So, you'll be so busy revitalising politics - single-handedly re-shaping Parliament, ensuring fairness for all, that sort of thing - that you'll have to withdraw from the Parkrun. People will be devastated. They'll all be saying "that Toby, he's just like all the rest, promises you anything he will" and "you can't trust them, you know, those politician people" and "I only voted for Toby so that I could race him in the Parkrun, now that he isn't, I'm going to have to kill myself", stuff like that. Braintree will lose all faith in politics and Brooks Newmark will probably send you an especially explicit sext to mark the occasion.

It's a tricky one, but I could make it an open-air surgery meeting as well. Basically, have a run and quiz me at the end.